Weeks v. United States

Weeks v. United States
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued December 2–3, 1913 Decided February 24, 1914
Full case name	Fremont Weeks v. United States
Citations	232 U.S. 383 (more) 34 S. Ct. 341; 58 L. Ed. 652; 1954 U.S. LEXIS 1368
Prior history	Defendant convicted, W.D. Mo. Error to the District Court of the United States for the Western District of Missouri
Holding
The warrantless seizure of documents from a private home violated the Fourth Amendment prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures, and evidence obtained in this manner is excluded from use in federal criminal prosecutions. Western District of Missouri reversed and remanded.
Court membership
Chief Justice Edward D. White Associate Justices Joseph McKenna · Oliver W. Holmes, Jr. William R. Day · Horace H. Lurton Charles E. Hughes · Willis Van Devanter Joseph R. Lamar · Mahlon Pitney
Case opinions
Majority	Day, joined by unanimous
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amend. IV

Weeks v. United States, 232 U.S. 383 (1914), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court unanimously held that the warrantless seizure of items from a private residence constitutes a violation of the Fourth Amendment.^[1] It also prevented local officers from securing evidence by means prohibited under the federal exclusionary rule and giving it to their federal colleagues. It was not until the case of Mapp v. Ohio, 367 U.S. 643 (1961), that the exclusionary rule was deemed to apply to state courts as well.

References

1. The Fourth Amendment states: "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

External links

• Text of Weeks v. United States, 232 U.S. 383 (1914) is available from:  Findlaw  Justia 
• Brief case summary at Oyez.org